Few questions on opening an Amex card

[AnotherRandomPerson]

Hello,
I just have a few questions about opening an amex card.

1) How do referral rewards change with the enhanced new cardholder offer?

2) Can you downgrade from Gold to ARCC or only to green (can you even downgrade to green anymore?)

3) does supplementary card spend go towards the spend requirements?

4) I understand that hotel status lasts past leaving Platinum but for how long? A year to the day of opening the card?

5) Does the Priority Pass and the £200 travel credit cancel as soon as you downgrade platinum?

6) Do you still get “first year of gold free” when downgrading from Platinum?

7) Would it even be worth applying at just under 5 eligibility chance on Amex eligibility? (Only plat, gold and the paid BA amex card are like this on amex eligibility.)

Sorry for all the questions.
Thanks.

[baec_newbie]

I can answer a few of your questions.

1) In most cases, the referral reward would stack on top of any enhanced sign-up bonus. That’s the case for the current 60k Platinum offer – the person who’s referred will get an extra 5k so 65k total, and the referrer will get their usual referral bonus too (up to 12k, temporarily increased to 18k for most people, if referring from a Platinum card).

There have been exceptions, such as the 70k BA Amex sign-up offer earlier this year, but they certainly aren’t the norm.

3) Yes, though note that supplementary card spending won’t qualify for certain Amex Offers (e.g. the £150 domestic + £150 foreign restaurant credit offer).

4) Depends on the chain in question. Most won’t downgrade you until your status naturally expires, but some will. In any event this will be determined by the hotel chain, not Amex.

6) Yes.

7) No real harm in applying unless you have already made a number of other credit applications in the last 12 months and intend to (or may) need to pass a credit check for something else, e.g. a mortgage. Amex are tightening up their criteria though, and you may have to submit evidence of income.

[tbtb31]

6) Do you still get “first year of gold free” when downgrading from Platinum?

6) Yes.

Is that really so? You get the usual 1st year free when applying for a Gold separately, but do you also get it for downgrading your existing Platinum card, i.e. not applying separately for a new Gold card?

[FearlessTraveller]

2) Yes you can downgrade the Gold card, but only to the ARCC, as the green card has been discontinued for almost a year

[AnotherRandomPerson]

Thanks @FearlessTraveller and @baec_newbie !

[BuildBackBetter]

5) yes